Silicon Valley has been studied by the world as the epicenter of innovation. Japanese corporations have been visiting Silicon Valley consistently. What purposes do these trips serve Japan’s innovation ecosystem? Why do established corporations and VC firms from Japan establish a footprint here? How have their views of innovation and interactions with Silicon Valley changed over the years? How successful have they been in importing the Silicon Valley way back to Japan? What have we learned from their presence? Join us as we explore these and other questions in a moderated conversation among the panelists and with the audience.

Dr. Richard Dasher has directed the US-Asia Technology Management Center since 1994. He also served concurrently as Executive Director of the Center for Integrated Systems (now renamed as the Stanford SystemX Alliance) 1998 – 2015. He holds Consulting Professor appointments in the Departments of Electrical Engineering (technology management) and East Asian Studies (Japanese business). From 2004, Dr. Dasher became the first non-Japanese person to join the governance of a Japanese national university, serving on the Board of Directors of Tohoku University and continuing on their Management Council through 2010. He is on advisory boards for government research institutions, S&T funding programs, startup companies, and accelerators in Japan, S. Korea, China, and Thailand, as well as in Silicon Valley.

Rochelle Kopp works to help clients increase profitability and employee engagement through improved communication and working relationships in multicultural environments. She is currently focused on helping Japanese companies be more successful in their global operations, supporting effective human resource management practices, organization development, and cross-cultural training and teambuilding. She also works frequently with American firms that have Japanese customers, joint venture partners, and suppliers. Rochelle is the author of The Rice-Paper Ceiling: Breaking Through Japanese Corporate Culture, The Lowdown: Business Etiquette Japan, the upcoming Creating Engaged Employees in Japan and Valley Speak: Deciphering the Jargon of Silicon Valley, and over twenty-five books in Japanese.

Zak Murase is the Silicon Valley Office Representative for Global Brain, a venture capital firm headquartered in Japan, specialized in early stage investments in the U.S. and Asia. Prior to joining Global Brain in 2013, Zak spent 19 years with Sony – 4 years in Japan and 15 years in the US. Zak started his Sony career as a software engineer, and held various positions including product management, marketing, and business development for new products and business initiatives within the company.
Zak was born and raised in Tokyo. Graduated from Keio University’s Shonan Fujisawa Campus in 1994.

Aki Ohashi
Director of Business Development, Xerox PARC

Aki Ohashi is PARC’s Director of Business Development responsible for developing and managing client relationships in the Japanese market. He is involved in all aspects of setting up projects with our Japanese partners: from the initial introductory meeting and defining of project deliverables and resources, to contracting and IP term definition. Aki works with all of PARC’s corporate clients in Japan including Fujitsu, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., and NEC Corporation, as well as our Japanese university partners and governmental organizations. Prior to joining PARC, Aki was a Partner with the Venture Capital Investment Division of ngi group, inc. (formerly Netage, Inc.) in Japan, where he led investments in, and served on the boards of, Internet-related startups in both the U.S. and Japan. Before ngi group, he served as the COO of Tilefile, KK, a Netage-funded Internet startup in Japan.

Yuka Nagashima is the Entrepreneur in Residence at Astia, a global organization, which connects high growth startups led by women and gender-inclusive teams to capital and networks necessary for their success. Originally from Japan, Yuka Nagashima co-founded 2 startups in Hawaii, directed the State of Hawaii’s innovation policy, led their incubation centers and mentored businesses. Now residing in Silicon Valley, she fills in as interim CEO/COO for startups, and advises companies trying to establish their business in the US through her consulting firm, Paideia Enterprises. She is the author of “The Innovation Framework Forward” a strategic plan for how to develop an innovation ecosystem outside of Silicon Valley. She is a program manager at Keizai Silicon Valley